She Missed the Family Dinner
by TheQueenAndHerSwan
Summary: What happens when Emma misses her family dinner with Regina and Henry?


Regina slowly eased Henry's door shut after glancing back one more time at the sleeping boy. It was nearly ten o'clock, way past his normal bed time, but Regina had let him stay up in order to wait for his blonde mother. The three of them were supposed to have dinner earlier that night, but when Emma didn't show up at 7, the brunette mother and son duo were forced to eat by themselves. Weekly dinners had become somewhat of a reoccurrence since the Ice Queen had left Storybrooke, all of them were trying to find some sort of comfort after everything they had been through.

Regina padded down the hallway towards her own bedroom, letting out a sigh of annoyance. The sheriff had never missed one of their weekly dinners, and Regina had started to notice she looked forward to every Friday getting to spend time with what she would call her 'family'. Now she would never had admitted that out loud, not wanting anyone in town to judge her more than they already do, but it was nice to have. Friday night was the one evening that the three could just sit down, have dinner, play board games, and watch the occasional super hero movie. It was the life she had always wanted growing up.

Taking a deep breath, her eyes landed on a pile of clothes that she had carelessly tossed on the floor earlier, wanting to be properly dressed before seven, so that she would look immaculate as always. Emma and her had been flirting endlessly back and forth during their family dinners, and tonight was the night that Regina was going to finally make a move on the blonde. She had spend extra time on her make up an outfit that night, wanting to look amazing for when she closed the short distance between her and Emma, finally kissing her. The former mayor bent down and cleaned up the mess, but couldn't help but wonder why the other woman had picked tonight of all nights to skip their little tradition. It had become somewhat of a relief to open the door at 7 every week, to find Emma standing on her front porch, dressed in her jeans and jacket, holding a few bottles of beer. After Henry went to bed, they would stay up late just talking. It never really mattered about what they talked about, it just…felt normal. Like everything she did with the woman was normal.

Dressing herself in a simple tanktop and guy shorts (never in a million years would she let someone see her in such clothes, the former mayor and queen would never dare, but Regina would), she brushed her teeth and climbed under the covers of her –of course- queen sized bed. Flicking the bedside lamp off, she was surprised to see a bright golden flash a few seconds later. She fully expected to see the missing blonde standing there with that puppy dog look on her face Regina could never say no to. But when the magic fog cleared, nothing was there. The brunette shrugged and turned onto her back, choosing to ignore it. She was almost asleep when she jolted out of bed by her motherly instincts when a groan could be heard from the other side of her bedroom.

Quickly turning the lamp back on, the light illuminated the woman who was supposed to be there nearly four hours ago now. Flipping off the sheets off of her body, it took no more than a second for her to be at Emma's side, kneeling on the cold carpet. "Emma?" she asked hesitantly as she took in the woman's shaking form. Her tshirt and jeans had blood soaking through them, making her wonder what was underneath. All the sheriff could do was moan, as she carefully uncurled her body and helped her onto her back.

"Gina," the blonde tried to mumble, but quickly fell back into the darkness. Not wanting to wait a second more, Regina lifted her secret crush into her arms, surprised at how weightless she was. Carrying her into her ensuite, she placed the blonde on the counter, holding on to her as she wet a washcloth. Emma started to stir in her arms, telling her that she had woken up from her forced slumber. She sat up slightly, letting Regina wash her face, and neck, trying to gather enough strength to say something.

"What happened Emma," Regina asked in a whisper, not wanting to startle the woman in her arms. She watched the woman in question blink slowly a few times, before opening her mouth the say something, but instantly closing it. Regina just nodded, knowing whatever had happened it wasn't her thing to press. She glanced down at Emma's shirt, now soaked with even more blood then before. "Can I?" she asked hesitantly, vaguely gesturing toward the shirt. Emma found enough strength to nod from her place on the counter, and the former mayor started lifting the garment over her shoulders.

The former mayor let out a strangled gasp as her eyes took in the scrapes and bruises on the younger woman's body. She wrung out the washcloth, and drug it carefully over the flawed skin, wondering how deep the scratches were. Luckily they looked all superficial, but it was hard to tell until she had cleaned them better. Reaching around Emma, she pulled her closer to her body so she could start to clean her back. Blonde hair fell over her shoulders as a clammy forehead rested between her own shoulder and neck. She felt her body stiffen at the contact, but soon melted as the blood washed off, and left her skin dry.

After checking that there was no actual blood under the blonde's pants, it had all been from her torso, she gently wrapped her arms back around her small frame. Taking her back into her bedroom, she placed Emma on her bed, not caring about her being dressed in only her underwear and bra. She drew the covers up to the woman's cheeks, not wanting her to get cold, and resisted the urge to lean down and kiss the broken woman. She had started to walk back to her side of the bed when she felt a small hand wrap around her wrist. Regina looked down to find Emma's puppy dog eyes looking back up at her, but the woman herself unable to say anything.

"I'm just getting onto my side of the bed dear," Regina informed the woman, and moved so her hand was holding Emma's. Smiling, the brunette made the few steps back, and laid down next to her. Not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable, she stayed on top of the covers, before Emma, using more energy than she had, lifted the blanket, prompting her to join her. It wasn't even a second after Regina had settled next to the woman, had she felt strong arms wrap around her torso. A pulled the woman into an embrace, just laying there marveling in what it felt like to have the woman of her dreams resting comfortably in her arms.

Emma's head was sitting on her chest, listening to her steady heart beat, both of them just waiting for the other one to speak. "Emma," Regina started, pulling her subconsciously closer. "I'm not leaving." It went without saying, but Regina had felt she needed to reassure the blonde of what was happening. She wanted to be there for the woman, and if she didn't want to talk, she didn't have to talk.

Blonde hair flew as Emma lifted her head slightly to make eye contact with her own savior, "Thank you," she whispered softly, and if Regina wasn't looking at her lips, she didn't think she would have heard her. Pulling each other closer, both of them saw a twinkling in the other's eyes that told them this is where they belonged, in the arms of their own savior.


End file.
